Not a nice man
by Jenunika
Summary: All those years Haymitch was well aware of the fact that his idiotic wig-wearing escort had a crush on him. What is more, he made sure she knew that he knew just to make her life more miserable.


All those years Haymitch was well aware of the fact that his idiotic wig-wearing escort had a crush on him. What is more, he made sure she knew that he knew just to make her life more miserable, after all up until certain girl put the world on fire his only revenge against the Capitol was making Effie's life hell. Not very nice? Well, he never claimed to be a nice man.

When Effie replaced the old harpy he was not-so-privately calling Granny Asskissing for all the dick sucking she was doing to the high officials, he was already labeled as a useless drunk and he was oh so fine with it. The reputation he worked hard for every day gave him rotten mornings and shaking hands, but it also gave him some kind of freedom, maybe only an illusion of it, but lets not forget that in this beautiful world he was living in illusions were everything. It was around that time he was finally left alone by everybody and also realized that he hated the world, the Games, people who said hello to him, and most importantly - himself. He despised the face in the mirror and yet he was too weak to just kill himself off like any decent person would have. He was always thinking of it as not doing any more favours to the Capitol people who would probably love to see his funeral on screens, lit few candles and shed few tears, but deep down he knew that he was simply too weak. After a while he worked out his private compromise, they were always telling him that drinking would kill him and that was fine with him, as long as it was true he was fine with staying alive.

Effie came to meet him on the first training day of the 63rd Games as the new escort (Granny Asskissing had kicked the bucket few hours earlier and they knew they had to get him a replacement quickly if they wanted anything to be done regarding District 12 part of the show). He didn't know who she was or how she got the job, all he could see was that Effie, just like her predecessor, personified Capitol with her every move, gesture, word, not to mention those ridiculous clothes.

Even before she opened her mouth he knew that he hated her, and then the first thing she told him was that he was her idol, that she watched him as a child and rooted for him from the beginning. Then she kept on raving about how excited and nervous she was not only to be able to meet him, but to actually get to know him and work with him on the event of that importance. Then she smiled that supposedly seductive smile he had seen thousands of times when he was still deemed desirable by all those people not having a clue. She twirled her fingers nervously prising his strategy during the Games and making plans for their tributes. He knew that although she was speaking with him, she wasn't even seeing what was right before her eyes, she was looking at the boy in her head who happened to have the same name and face as he and who happened to survived the bloodbath. Maybe she was only in her early twenties but if she was anybody worth his time and company she should have known better. Obviously she didn't. Even old Granny Asskissing was better than this. He silently vowed to himself to oblige to her wishes and get her to know him, see the real him, every single bit, thought and scar, and the nasty smile that appeared on his face actually made her shut up for a minute. He left her right there, not speaking even one word to her and when the next day during the party she behaved as if nothing happened, as if they were two people getting along splendidly accepting the congratulations for landing the job with a smile. Right there he knew her weakness and he decided to use it against her.

She was proud, she just got the job, she would never let anybody know that something went wrong or the she was hurt, she would always pretend that everything was fine even if it was to kill her, he got this much from her behaviour, so he was ignoring her the whole evening and she had to follow him like a lost puppy to present them as a happy team to anybody who was willing to listen. Not that many people were...

After that year it all became pretty simple - the Capitol finds a new way to make his life more miserable, he finds a way to make sure the Capitol suffers too, the Capitol personified by the one and only person in the world he found out he had any power over - poor, silly Effie. To her credit she was taking it all with grace and never even tried to show her hurt feelings. If even once she would cry or say anything back he would stop immediately, he wasn't up to such confrontation, certainly not if it would involved her tears, but she never cried and he frequently told her how ugly she looked, he questioned her intelligence, he made sure to point out her every flaw, ridicule her efforts and she took it all pretending not to notice and always relying on her cheerful professional personality to carry her through the day. He hated her the most those days.

Once he called her a fat clingy virgin who won't leave him alone for five minutes, he called her that in a room full of people, her so called friends and employers were all there and nobody seem to want to punch him for his words, nobody cared. Good indicator that the promotion she desired so much won't happen anytime soon, they were stuck with each other forever and that made him even more angry. He wanted to make sure they all know how ridiculous it all was, unfortunately right before he could start, he puked all over the dining table and was thrown out of the party. Well, the ship called District 12 was sinking and Effie was going down with it, this made him smile though his body hurt from the rough handling he got from the security staff. She was still her professional cheerful self after that, although only for another day, because that was when both their tributes were killed and he was sent home.

They have met another year and he realized she had lost a lot of weight during those months, her face looked sharper even with the make up, her eyes were bigger and her legs and arms were tiny, still the children in his district were starving every day for as long as he could remember so no remorse if one crazy lady from the Capitol took his words and dieting a little bit too serious. And he couldn't stop himself so he asked quietly right there on the stage if she had lost her virginity along with the pounds. There was no response and he didn't really care one way or another. Five minutes later two scared faces were watching his every move and all he wanted was another drink. He watched as Effie took care of directing the whole party to the train and he wondered if during her career she had any second thoughts about the things she was doing every day. Probably not. All she cared for was herself, just as they all did.

And then there were another Games, 68th this time, and when the children died yet again minutes after it all started, he hurled his glass against the wall and a string of profanities at her. He was feeling old lately, old and frustrated, his life wasted, and suddenly he found himself telling her all those things everybody thought and nobody was speaking of. He called her murderer, the butcher's apprentice, bugs be damned he had to let it out, all his hatred and anger, all of the agony of his broken mind. She was just sitting there, taking deep breaths, taking it all on herself her nails digging into her bare legs. It looked like something finally clicked in her head, like she have realized how much he hated her. When he finished she sat motionless for a while, her eyes closed, her body shaking, but then she opened her eyes and straightened her shoulders, she looked at him and he could see how disgusted she was, how much she hated him. Finally. Suddenly she put a bright smile on her face and he heard what he always imagined those Capitol people were telling each other: "Those were really boring Games, Haymitch, lets make sure that the next tributes will be more prepared and interesting for the audience". She stood up and started to leave, then she stopped and came to him, with the same smile she took the bottle from his hands and put it on the table. "Tomorrow you have a train at 6:30 and make sure the coffins are delivered by then. Lets hope we get better tributes next Games". She left and he sat there drinking what was left in the room.

The next time he met Effie she was unrecognizable, at least for him. Her clothes were always weird and they became more extravagant with every year she has spent with the Capitol finest, but it was her behaviour that made her unrecognizable. She was pushy. She was loud. She was downright obnoxious with her constant commentary. She was even clapping her hands to get people's attention. She started to run around with a clipboard organizing everything for everybody, the things had to be just right or she flipped out. No meek glances, no "could you" or "would you please", no caring smiles here and there. She was giving people lectures on manners and she was laughing happily or making sad faces at the slightest provocation. The mask she put on was so thick he was sure he could peel it off her face if he liked. She still made sure to cover his blunders, but this time it was always in a way that inevitably made him look silly, drunk and hopeless. She was protecting the District's image, not him, it took him few days to work it out. He tried to push her few times with his words and behaviour, but he got nothing, she was professional to the bone, she looked at him with pity that changed to relieved smile as soon as she could leave the room or turn to somebody else. He found himself following her few times to get her attention until he realized that he was the one looking silly now. After all in his eyes there was no more humanity in this Effie, gods what a silly name that was, she was the very model of an escort now, the very model of Capitol citizen, cheerful organizing machine with no thoughts, feelings or goals except the obvious one - to be promoted. It was pointless to play this game anymore. He didn't know who was her mentor in all this, who was her role model, but it was some middle-aged bitch for all he could see. He decided to focus on his drinking instead.

During the next two weeks together they established what seemed to be the best routine for them, she ignored him and avoided him as much as possible and he was making sure not to be coherent most of the time. Their tributes died, they parted ways for another year.

It worked well up until they had their first potential victors on their hands. During 74th Games they were both needed, they were both tolerating each other company simply because they were equals now. They both disliked each other on equal terms, they both would rather do something else and be somewhere else, they openly voiced their dislike, they traded little insults, but nothing major because that would mean one of them actually cared, and they didn't, did they? And then the war came. Sitting in District 13 after a week of forced sobriety Haymitch suddenly realized that one way or another there will be no Effie to deal with anymore. No annual reunion. He had no idea where she was, what she was doing, or even if she was alive. Did he care? Not much, she was supposed to have other people who would care for her, the Capitol people, she was a Capitol citizen, right? Everybody was aware of their strained relationship and escorts were regarded in his circles as common informers, her fate wasn't his concern. But somewhere in the depths of his mind he promised himself to at least find out what happened to her. To be honest she wasted huge part of her life right there with him, being a puppet, playing the way they told her, she would be in her late thirties now, jobless, in fact useless. Poor silly Effie. He thought for a while about a girl he had met on the roof, the excitement in her voice, spark in her eyes, the admiration, and only then he realized the the Games must have screwed her life royally. He added his share but it was only fair, right? Suddenly Haymitch was staring at the wall feeling more sick than before.


End file.
